Duties
by Ice-Song
Summary: Jake must relearn the balance between his duties and identities as a human and a dragon after the world discovers magical creatures in order to continue protecting the magical creatures that remain in hiding and to protect those that have been caught.
1. Chapter 1

Jake gave a heavy sigh as he let his head fall onto his desk with a heavy thud. Trixie glanced over at her friend and then let her gaze wander back to the front of the room. "Jeez Jakeie, you could at least try an' pretend to pay attention."

"Trix, even the computer nerds are asleep," Jake pointed to the back of the room where several kids had their heads down in apparent slumber. "This is the most whacked out boring class we've been in all year. I don't think Mr. Layman even knows the meaning of…"

"Psst," Trixe hissed. "Teacher alert, 3 o'clock."

Jake looked to his immediate left and slowly looked up until he was staring in the eyes of a very angry English teacher. "I don't know the meaning of what word, Mr. Long?" Mr. Layman asked tightly.

"I… uhh..." Jake said slowly.

"If you're going to insult me you could very well at least use real words," Mr. Layman snipped icily. "Would you care to finish your thought?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders and laughed nervously. "What thought?" he asked quickly.

Mr. Layman's lips twisted and he sighed. "Exactly," he muttered as he returned to the front of the room. He pulled open a book and pointed to the page. "All right class, pages 24-38, read them and answer the questions." The bell rang outside the class and all the students stood up quickly. "Class is dismissed."

Jake quickly bent over and grabbed all his things getting ready to bolt out of the classroom as quickly as he possibly could. Mr. Layman walked over and put his hand on Jake's shoulder to keep him from leaving the classroom with the rest of his peers and pointed to the front of the room. "If you please, Mr. Long."

Jake sighed and trudged to the front of the room and flopped down into the desk in front of the teacher's desk. "You know, you're almost becoming like how Rotwood was to me when he was still a teacher and not the principal."

Mr. Layman rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Only I actually care about my students, Jake. All the teachers have noticed it, and quite frankly you have more then one adult concerned about you at this school."

Jake held up his hands and shook his head. "Woah, woah woah, wait. You actually talk about me in the teacher's lounge?"

Mr. Layman smiled wanly. "We trade information to stay ahead of the student body so we can maximize the pain we put you kids through each day," he said.

"Ha ha," Jake muttered dryly.

Mr. Layman shook his head and continued. "Jake, in 6th grade you may not have been a perfect model A student but at least you stayed in school all day. You weren't as tardy or as tired as you seem during the day. Now I know English isn't the most exciting subject for everyone but do you know how many times I've seen you fall asleep in my class in the past month?"

Jake made an effort to think of how many times. He counted out what he remembered on his fingers and looked guiltily up at his teacher. "Uh, eight?"

"Ten, Jake. Ten times, that I've seen. Since the 1st, 3 weeks ago," Mr. Layman told his pupil.

Jake held out his hands in an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry!" he said. "I've just been super busy at G's shop and…other stuff…" he trailed off trying to make it appear non-chalant.

"It's the 'other stuff' that some of us are worried about. We may be public school teachers but some of us decided to teach kids because we like teaching and we like kids, remember that Jake. I can't speak for everyone but at the very least I'm here to help if you need it. I don't want to see you taking a path in life you'll regret," Mr. Layman said softly.

Jake blinked and then snorted. "Yo, Mr. L, don't sweat it. I'm not doing anything after school that is bad or anything. I work a lot and stuff but trust me, mom would get a hold of me before anyone else could if I she didn't know what I was doing."

Mr. Layman nodded. "I'm inclined to disbelieve you, however I'll leave it be for now. Please, just…" he was interrupted by a light knock at the door. Both turned to see Sun Park standing in the doorway, smiling lightly.

"Ah, Mr. Layman, I see you've decided to talk to Mr. Long. I'm sure this is important but if I may borrow him?" she asked as she walked over.

"Actually, I'm not quite…" Mr. Layman started but Sun had already guided Jake out of the desk he was sitting in.

"Thanks a lot," she said with a radiant smile and pulled Jake out of the classroom leaving a very confused English teacher behind.

Jake breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Sun. "Yo, thanks but uh… any reason why you're breaking me out of a verbal beatdown from Mr. Layman?"

"We have some trouble in the nymph territories," Sun said quietly. "A religious dispute and they're about to go to war over it."

Jake stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Say whaaaat?"

* * *

Jake scanned the forest below him as they flew towards where the main conflict was. "Why isn't gramps here?" Jake asked as he shaded his eyes against the sun in an effort to see below the darkened canopy.

"Your grandfather and his animal guardian went to the island of Draco to report the incident. I was given orders to take you and see if we can't at least delay the conflict long enough for the Council to get here."

Jake sighed. "I'm not too good at the whole… uh… calming armed races thing," he said delicately. "Seriously, I'm like 13 years old. I don't know anything about really old religious wars."

Sun smiled at him and nodded towards a clearing of trees directly ahead of them. "I'm sure you'll do fine, American Dragon."

"So, why all the static?" Jake asked as they began their decent.

"The tree nymphs and the river nymphs both have the same basic religion with the same creation story. Their patron goddess, the Pure One is worshiped in both cultures. Only, the tree nymphs claim she was a tree nymph and the river nymphs claim she was a river nymph. Understand?" Sun asked.

Jake blinked slowly as they landed. "So… they've been fighting for thousands of years over weather or not their goddess was a tree or a river?"

Sun smiled sadly. "Well, it's not like any conflict has much more depth to it. All fighting like this does is bring hate and destruction to those who do not deserve it."

"And I'm supposed to do… what exactly?" Jake asked.

"Listen to both sides and keep the two leaders from declaring war until the Council gets here," Sun explained. "You're the American Dragon, it is your duty to listen to everything the creatures of this country have to say. Listening is just as important as fighting."

"Yeah, but fighting is easier," Jake pointed out. "And more fun."

Sun shrugged and pointed to the clearing where two very tall, very angry looking women were standing, facing away from the other. Jake swallowed hard and walked into the clearing smiling with as much bravado as he could muster. "Heeey, ladies, how are two such fine looking girls as yourselves doing in this lovely afternoon?"

Both women glared at Jake with an icy stare and then looked away with a 'humph.' Jake sucked in a deep breath and walked over to where a small wooden chair was. "So uhh… what seems to be the problem?" he asked in a less confident tone.

Sun shook her head slowly as both women began to complain about everything from crop failure to bad weather and each blaming it on the other nymph tribe. Finally Jake slammed his tail on the ground in an effort to get them both to be quiet. "Okay, okay, chill, jeez. Look, I know you two probably have your differences but you can't start any wars or anything."

The tree nymph leader crossed her arms and her dark lips tightened until they were almost invisible. "Tell me, oh dragon guardian, why is that? Why are we not free to fight out our disputes like any other filthy human on this planet?"

Jake let out a slow breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Because… war is bad?" he tried.

The river nymph let out a cold laugh and tossed her wavy gray hair. "Try harder, kid. The only reason we're even here is because it's customary to talk to the dragon guardian before declaring a war."

Jake looked to Sun for some kind of prompt or clue as to what he should say in reply. All the pretty dragon did was smile reassuringly and gesture to Jake as if to say 'continue.' Jake glared at the ground and muttered "easy for you to say."

"What?" Both leaders snapped.

Jake looked up and held out his hands peaceably. "Ladies, ladies," he said soothingly. "Look, if you start a war this close to the city border chances are you're going to alert the humans. I know it's not fair that you can't fight," he said quickly before the tree nymph could fight back. "But, the fact remains that if you're caught then pretty much all of the magical world is caught. Just… keep that in mind."

"Then we'll take our battle elsewhere," The river nymph snapped.

"Uh, humans are everywhere," Jake pointed out. "That and, the fact that you're willing to move from your spirit ground to fight is pretty whack. I mean come on, just… make up so no one is worrying about getting caught."

Both women glared at the other and then both turned their harsh gazes on Jake. The tree nymph spoke first. "Fine, I agree to a temporary truce if the water tribe agrees to stop flooding our land every time it rains."

"Like we do that on purpose!" The water nymph shot back. "We're just pushing our borders to what the Pure One intended for us."

"The Pure One wanted us to have the land we need to grow, as it was how she lived!" The tree nymph yelled back.

Jake groaned as both women began to squabble over his head again. "And to think I used to beg to get out of school and chores."

* * *

Jake watched as his grandfather descended from the sky with the Dragon Council behind him. Jake smiled and waved happily. "Grapms! Thank god you're finally here. Look, I need to jet home real quick like or I won't have any homework to turn in tomorrow."

The blue dragon nodded and inclined his head. "Very well, young one, since we're here now you can…"

"Absolutely not," The tree nymph said. "I refuse to deal with that… that… waterlogged brat without the American Dragon."

"As if I would deal with you and your mud dwelling kin without our representative," she hissed back.

Jake shook his head. "Wha? B-b-but, oh come on. The Council members are here and they're way older and…stuff…" Jake glanced at the council. "Uh… not that you're too old…"

"We refuse," they said together and both turned their backs on one another.

Councilor Andam placed a hand on Jake's shoulder and shook his head. "You are the mediator of this treaty young one. Apparently you said or did something that gained their respect and now you must follow it through. Such is the duty of the representative dragon of any country."

Jake thought of the talk he had with his teacher earlier that day and sighed knowing that it was only the tip of the ice burg. "Awww maaaan…" he muttered.

* * *

Mmkay, my first American Dragon multi chap. I feel the need to write more story because I know that the show is being cancelled. Ah well, impusliveness may work out for me here. This seems like it will be a pretty cool story as I actually have most of it plotted out.

Thanks to my reviewers, whoever you may be. Hugs and cookies to you. See you next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Jake wandered into his room and fell heavily into his bed. He had just situated himself underneath his covers when the door cracked open. "Jake?" he heard his mom call sleepily. 

"M'here…" he mumbled into his pillow.

His mom walked into his room and shut the door quietly behind her. She walked across the room and sat at the foot of Jake's bed. She sighed and glanced at the clock on Jake's bedside table. "If you're going to school today, it's time to get up," she told him, almost guiltily.

Jake groaned and buried his head underneath his pillows.

His mom smiled and patted Jake's shoulder through the covers. "Or I can call you off sick today, if you'd like."

Jake pulled his head out and glanced at his mom. "For real?" he asked.

"Your grandfather called me about ten minutes before you came in," she said, nodding at the door. "He told me you were really out all night doing your duties and since it was beyond your control I'll allow it. As long as there's nothing big today."

Jake actually smiled and shook his head. "Nah, just a paper turn in for history. It's in my backpack, I can turn it in tomorrow."

"All right, sweetie," she said and hugged Jake. "I'll tell your dad and your school you're not feeling well. In the meantime get some sleep and don't go out today. Understand?"

Jake sighed and fell back into his pillows dramatically. "Please, mom," he snorted. "I just spent an all nighter negotiating between two nymph tribes on the verge of war. I don't want to go anywhere but under my pillow."

His mom laughed a little and stood up. "All right then. Get some sleep, I'll be back later today. I have a small luncheon across town but it shouldn't take too long."

Jake nodded and curled back into his covers, barely hearing anything she was saying. "Lunch, okay…" he murmured and was asleep within minutes.

His mom walked over to his backpack and opened it. She pulled out his paper and quietly left the room, shutting the door as softly as she could. Haley watched this from across the hall and frowned. "Is he sick?" she asked.

"No, just tired. He had a busy night," Susan said.

"Oh," Haley murmured and then shrugged. "More bathroom time for me," she said sweetly and ran off to the bathroom.

* * *

Susan walked up the steps into Jake's school and went into the office. She gave Jake's paper and written excuse to the secretary and turned back towards the door. She stopped short when she nearly ran into a thin, blonde man with dull green eyes. She stepped aside. "I'm sorry," she said graciously and started to walk once again towards the door.

The man glanced down at the papers on the secretary's desk and then eyed the woman he had nearly ran into. "Excuse me, but would you happen to be Mrs. Long?"

Susan turned around and nodded. "Yes. I'm Jake's mother."

The man broke into a smile and reached out his hand. "I am Mr. Layman, his English teacher." As Susan shook his hand his expression turned somber again. "I'm afraid several other teachers and myself are somewhat worried about your son lately."

"Jake?" Susan asked, pretending to be surprised. "Is he acting up?"

"Well…" Mr. Layman coughed awkwardly. "He is, but no more then most children at this school. We're more concerned about his absences from class and the fact that he always seems to be tired. I know he has a job with his grandfather however it appears to us that he may be getting into trouble."

Susan frowned and shook her head. "I can assure you that Jake isn't doing anything he shouldn't be. If he was I'm sure I'd know about it."

"Yes, yes," Mr. Layman said. "He assured me the same thing yesterday. However I thought I'd just bring it up. Perhaps you'd like to have a talk with him. Just in case."

Susan smiled warmly at the teacher and nodded. "I'll do that. Thank you for your concern," she said and walked out of the office. Once outside she breathed a long sigh of relief and smoothed her hair nervously. "Oh dear," she said under her breath as she left.

* * *

Meanwhile, a congressman stepped forward on a platform that was set up in central park. "And," he continued. "Because of our need to preserve nature and the beauty that this planet gives us I have decided to propose a bill that will allow the state of New York to more easily request federal protection for our natural reserves. I declare this in the beauty of Central Park to remind everyone that even in the largest of cities the cool scene of the forest is always welcome."

There was spattered applause among the crowd as the man continued on with his speech. He kept on glancing out of the corner of his eye as he spoke. No one noticed because of his grandiose hand gestures and flamboyant speech. As he neared the end of his press conference he gasped and pointed, his mouth wide open. "My god, what is that?" he asked.

Murmuring the reporters and camera persons turned around and a cry of shock rippled through the crowd. Standing in plain view of nearly 70 people in the immediate area and almost 10,000 people across the nation was a genuine unicorn.

The cameras flashed, clicked and whirred as the nervous animal pawed the ground and whinnied. Reporters spoke feverishly into their recorders while the people holding the live cameras walked tentatively forward to get a better shot.

The congressman walked calmly off the stage, a smile gracing his lips. He stepped back, out of range of the cameras and recorders and pulled out his cell phone. "Hello?" he asked.

"Yes."

He nodded into the receiver and smirked. "They can all see it, don't worry. The plan is just starting. I'll bring the bill up soon." He paused and then laughed. "Don't worry. This is sure to spell the end for all magical creatures and now it will be that much easier to find the dragons." He paused again and nodded. "Thank you. It was an inspired idea." He paused on last time and nodded. "Thank you very much for your praise, sir. Yes, good bye sir."

He pressed a button on his cell phone and pocketed it. His sleeve slid up a little as he pushed the small device into his pocket. He pulled it down, taking great care to make sure that it covered the pale red birthmark that wound around his arm.

* * *

Jake snored loudly into his pillow, happily asleep and blissfully unaware of the pandemonium unfolding outside. There was a slam as the front door downstairs was closed with more force then was needed and Jake was jerked rudely out of his peaceful slumber.

He cracked an eye open as he heard several pairs of footsteps make their way up the stairs and he sighed as his bedroom door was flung open.

"Jake, there is big trouble," his grandfather said breathlessly.

Jake groaned and sat up. "Can it wait? I needs my beauty sleep you know," he said pointedly.

"No kid, you don't understand," Fu Dog said quickly from behind Lao Shi. "This is like… the magical world apocalypse here."

Jake was a little more awake now as he looked at his grandpa and Fu Dog. It took one glance to tell that they were dead serious. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

Fu Dog rifled through Jake's drawers and tossed the teen his daily apparel. "Get dressed and we'll explain on the way."

"Way? Where?" Jake asked as he caught his clothes.

"Draco Island," Lao Shi said in a quiet voice.

Jake nodded and ran out of his room and into the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

There was no easy joking or playful banter as they made their way into the subway. Jake strained to listen to the chatter around him but was only able to catch small snippets of conversation that left him more confused then ever.

"…this morning on the news. It was beautiful…"

"Can you believe it? I used to when I was little but…"

"Mommy, it was so pretty. Are there more?"

Jake took in a deep breath, wondering what they were talking about and knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't good. Lao Shi nervously made his way to the elevator and pressed the buttons discreetly. Jake felt himself get pulled in roughly the second the elevator opened and watched as the door closed fast enough to take off a limb if one wasn't careful.

"Draco?" the elevator troll asked.

"Please," Lao Shi asked.

Jake backed up and latched onto the side of the elevator as it sped down towards the center of the earth. Fu Dog groaned and Jake edged away from the motion sickness prone dog as fast as he possibly could.

Fu Dog chuckled a little as the elevator slowed to a stop. "Learned your lesson, kid?" he asked.

"Once was more then enough," Jake muttered.

The elevator dinged and it opened again, this time more slowly and they got out. Jake took in a deep breath and loosened up a bit as he felt Fu Dog and Lao Shi relax. "So uh… what up?" he asked.

"You'll learn soon enough," Fu Dog assured Jake. "Come on, let's get into the main building. We're probably the last ones here."

"Hey, it's called being fashionably late," Jake said smoothly.

Fu Dog smiled at Jake and shook his head. "I'm glad you can still joke around kid. We're gonna need them."

Jake sighed and then shrugged. "May as well," he said quietly.

They walked into the conference building where Lao Shi silently shape shifted into his dragon form. Jake glanced at him once then followed suit. Quietly they flew up into the air, with Jake supporting Fu Dog and landed gently on last two open chairs in the balcony.

The murmuring quieted down as Councilor Andam stepped up. "We have called this meeting after witnessing today's events. For those that do not know or do not have access to the technology needed, today during a press conference of the a congressman of New York, a Unicorn was spotted on camera, recorded and captured. I do not need to explain how dire this situation is."

"Say what?" Jake gasped, almost loosing his balance in his seat.

Lao Shi raised a claw to his lips and shook his head and Jake quieted down along with the rest of the crowd.

"Because of the now apparent danger to all magical creatures," he continued. "The council has come to a rather difficult decision."

"Oh no," Fu Dog murmured. "I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what?" Jake asked.

Before Fu Dog could answer, Councilor Andam cleared his throat and looked up at the representatives in the room somberly. "We are going to request that any and all dragons, including country representatives cease all dragon training, mediating and mission taking until further notice. We are also going to ask that all dragon refrain from using any magic outside of this island and the isolated magical communities."

* * *

For all those who have seen 'Homecoming' or know what's going to happen. Please note that this fic is an alternate universe fic and takes place either before the events of that episode or in a universe where those events never take place. Take your pick.

And, here's the next chapter. I swear it's not serious the whole time. The first part is but it get's lighter as time goes on. So, enjoy the drama while it lasts cause it's not going to stay XD Thanks for the reviews. As always, hugs and cookies to my reviwers. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.


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